You have to admit that when this movie was made they did some incredable things you wouldn't think possible. "Watch the Birds" then they flock together when the whale comes out of the water. "He Rises!"
They had trouble with the Whale when making this! They had to make three whales I think?
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Yes, they are impressive, and while there are some great shots of the whale on the open sea, the majority of the whale f/x shots are various size miniatures made in Elstree Studios. If you pause your DVD at select shots it's easy to see which is which.
shareI saw something with John Huston talking about the large whale contraption they built for the film. The 'skin' was apparently rubber over a frame designed to provide the shape of the whale. One day while shooting the dramatic scene where Ahab is actually on Moby Dick's back, there was a serious problem with the 'whale' rolling over. Gregory Peck wasn't that far from drowning while strapped to the thing. But they got it righted and finished the shooting.
shareI am sick to death with all the ballyhoo and anecdotal stories about the giant whale prop used in this film which allegedly broke loose and -according to at least one version of the story- became "a menace to navigation."
In point of fact, you actually only SEE the thing for a total of about a minute, minute and a half at most.
You see the full-size whale for the first time when Ahab climbs aboard, again when he makes his "hell's heart" speech and again briefly a while later when Starbuck lobs a harpoon as it passes.
These may have been shot outdoors, but they're all done in very tight close-up so that it's impossible to tell if it's in an outdoor tank or on the ocean.
The rest of the time when you see the whale it's clearly all a miniature in a water tank.
Kind of like the infamous Robo-Kong from the 1976 remake of King Kong.
Incidentally, the full-sized whale gets much more screen time (and you see more of it) in the 1930 version with Barrymore as Ahab.
"If you don't know the answer -change the question."
>>Incidentally, the full-sized whale gets much more screen time (and you see more of it) in the 1930 version with Barrymore as Ahab.<< Yeah, but that whale looks like a lumpy potato. At least in Huston's version the minatures move like real whales, rising and falling, not plowing across the surface like a dreadnought.
Oh, no argument there. My point was that the Peck whale gets so much ballyhoo, but you barely see it, while Barrymore's is all but forgotten and you see more of it.
Lumpy potato or not, you've got to love the scene where the full-size model bites down on Ahab at the beginning!
"If you don't know the answer -change the question."
Also of note in the '56 version, shots of the sperm whale in the first hunt (the "Hill and Gully Rider" scene) also uses a miniature whale in a tank. The miniature is intercut with 2nd unit shots cameraman Freddie Francis made with the Madiera whalers (the 2nd whale hunt uses mostly that documentary footage intercut with close ups of the cast).
I've said this before, but I think the white whale in the Huston version would've been more effective if they showed LESS of it. Exciting shots of the whale lurching towards camera and breaching mightily are keepers. Shots of Moby gliding through the water tend to be tepid and unthreatening.
And the ring-around-the-rosey whirlpool sequence is downright laffable!
"If you don't know the answer -change the question."